The deformation behavior and mechanical properties of articular chondrocytes are believed to play an important role in their response to mechanical loading of the extracellular matrix. This study utilized the micropipette aspiration test to measure the viscoelastic properties of chondrocytes isolated from macroscopically normal or end-stage osteoarthritic cartilage. A three-parameter standard l...

This paper presents a fully three-dimensional constitutive model for anisotropic viscoelasticity suitable for the macroscopic description of fibre reinforced composites that experience finite strains. An essential feature of the model is that the matrix and the fibres are treated separately allowing then as many bundles of fibres as desired. Moreover, the relaxation and/or creep response is bas...

where _ cgm is the viscous shear stress, with _ c the shear rate and gm the matrix viscosity, Do is initial droplet diameter, and G is the interfacial tension. A steady applied shearing flow that is not so fast as to lead to droplet rupture will eventually stretch a droplet into a roughly ellipsoidal steady-state shape, and the steady-state degree of deformation, defined as the deformation para...

Viscoelastic properties of soft tissues and hydropolymers depend on the strength of molecular bonding forces connecting the polymer matrix and surrounding fluids. The basis for diagnostic imaging is that disease processes alter molecular-scale bonding in ways that vary the measurable stiffness and viscosity of the tissues. This paper reviews linear viscoelastic theory as applied to gelatin hydr...

This paper characterized bovine extraocular muscles (EOMs) using creep, which represents long-term stretching induced by a constant force. After preliminary optimization of testing conditions, 20 fresh EOM samples were subjected to four different loading rates of 1.67, 3.33, 8.33, and 16.67%/s, after which creep was observed for 1,500 s. A published quasilinear viscoelastic (QLV) relaxation fun...

Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) was used to characterize biomedical composites consisting of synthetic hydroxyapatite (HA) particulate reinforced polyethylene (PE). The effects of the HA volume fraction, temperature and HA particle on the storage modulus (E(I)) and damping (tan delta) were investigated. Increasing HA volume fractions increased E(I) and decreased tan delta. E(I) was found to b...

Microbial biofilm development is observed on virtually all submerged surfaces in natural and industrial environments. Biofilms are also observed at interfaces as pellicles, or in the bulk of aquatic environments as flocs or granules [1, 2]. A biofilm is a complex structure made of aggregates of microbial cells within a matrix of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) (Figure 1). The matrix st...

Cells can adapt their mechanical properties through cytoskeleton remodelling in response to external stimuli when the cells adhere to the extracellular matrix (ECM). Many studies have investigated the effects of cell and ECM elasticity on cell adhesion. However, experiments determined that cells are viscoelastic and exhibiting stress relaxation, and the mechanism behind the effect of cellular v...

Animation of viscoelastic solids in entertainment and medical applications as well as scientific simulation can be improved through observations of real world objects. This paper presents a method for simulating viscoelastic solids in real-time for visual and haptic display along with a method for determining the parameters of the the underlying model from automated physical measurements of rea...